Land sale

You own a plot or land in Berlin and want to sell it? In our guide "25 Practical Tips for a Berlin real estate sale" you will also find tips for selling land. If your Berlin real estate is designated as land suitable for building and it is located in the city centre of Berlin or close to it, then the sales opportunities are currently excellent. This is because in urban locations land is scarce. There are hardly any vacant lots there and the demand is particularly high.

Private individuals or building contractors as target groups

In principle for the Berlin real estate sale of land there are two target groups. Individuals who want to accomplish their dream of having a Berlin home, or building contractors and project developers, who want to implement their own construction projects to market these in the future.

The sale of land to private investors can be considered if, on the lot, only one or two units can be built. Otherwise, it is usually wiser and more practical to seek a building contractor as buyer, which in turn, after the purchase and construction of the Berlin real estate, will seek for buyers, too.

Ground values as a measure of the sales price of land?

The ground values provide a good approximation for the achievable Berlin real estate selling price, because the published reference values of the municipality were determined on the basis of actual, realized Berlin real estate selling prices in the past.

However, the achievable price during the sale is often up to 20% above or below the stated approximate value for the land. There are many reasons for this.

The most important reason is certainly that each Berlin real estate is unique and therefore, the value can be only partially derived from the value of other land (e.g. because of insufficient number of cases).

Suitability for building (development potential) as an indicator of achievable selling prices

The Berlin real estate price at which a plot can be sold can be best derived from the development potential of the land. Basically, the more living area can be erected, the higher the achievable selling price. How much surface can be used for building is stated in the construction plan. The value is derived from the given site occupancy index and the floor-space index and also other building regulations.

Submit a preliminary construction plan before selling the land?

In the event that the suitability for building is unclear because there is no qualified development plan, and the development potential is also not clear looking at the surrounding buildings, it may be advisable for the seller of a plot to submit a preliminary construction plan before marketing the Berlin real estate.

In a preliminary construction plan the person submits development proposals to the “planning department and building control office“ and receives a three years valid notice that gives legally binding information for the land development. Although this procedure is associated with costs and can take a few weeks time, it facilitates the sale of Berlin real estate and land.

Marketing strategy

When marketing a plot or other Berlin real estate, buyers should be informed about details concerning the development potential and projects with different perspectives should be generated (e.g. development with single-family house vs. construction of 2 semi-detached houses).

If the plot size allows only one or two units to be built, both private investors and building promoters should be addressed in the marketing, since both groups are potential buyers.

When the land or other Berlin real estate are very attractive, the best strategy (to achieve the highest selling price) is to sell the lot through a bidding process, in which a minimum bid is set and subsequent higher bids are made by potential buyers. Bidding processes should generally be conducted by market intermediaries, like a real estate agency in Berlin, who have frequently sold land and know the most important building promoters in the region. It is important to find Berlin estate agents who have relevant experience in the sale of land.